How Do Urban Amenities Shape Knowledge-Intensive Industry Locations within Cities? A Multi-Scalar Study of Wuhan, China

Published in Applied Geography, 2025

Core contribution: This article develops a multi-scalar framework showing how urban amenities shape knowledge-intensive industry locations: metropolitan amenity patterns organize urban sectors and competitive advantages, while local amenity availability and diversity support placemaking and localized industrial attractiveness.

Highlights
  • Builds a two-scale explanation: metropolitan amenity sectors shape competitive advantage, while local amenity diversity supports place-based industrial clustering.
  • Shows that automotive firms cluster near high-amenity urban sectors, but local districts still develop specialized industrial clusters.
  • Finds that essential infrastructure and public services have more stable effects than consumer amenities.
  • Translates the findings into differentiated planning: central districts need innovation buzz, while outer areas need basic services and functional accessibility.
Graphical abstract of urban amenities and knowledge-intensive industry locations in Wuhan
Graphical abstract